SOP Question
Alright, for those of you who don't know, I am applying to MFA programs in creative writing, and am currently working on my SOP. I understand, as I've said, that the writing sample is way more important, but this just happens to be one of the parts I'm focusing on right now. That said, I know that each SOP has to be tailored to each school I'm applying to, because each school will have different SOP criteria, requested length, and each school will want to know why I am applying there.
I wrote one SOP as a sample and handed it out to some of my professors. One mentioned two things 1) That the reasons I gave for wanting to attend that program and graduate school in general are vague, and 2) I don't mention specific professors I'd want to work with. She mentioned this as someone with a PhD in literature, and said that she believes at MFA programs, mentioning specific faculty that you want to oversee your work and such isn't as important because it's more of a workshop environment (especially in high res programs). However, this is just the direction she's coming from.
Now, at some of the schools I'm applying to, I've been attracted to them because of the faculty, and some I'm attracted to other criteria, such as visiting writers, classes offered, the department's philosophy, or any combination of criteria. I'm excited about all of the programs for different reasons. I plan to revise my SOP to include more specific reasons for wanting to attend an MFA program, because I know that I can, but I wanted to run the question to the board: for MFA programs in writing, is faculty as important? I know that for PhD programs it's very, very important, and I know that MFA programs want you to at least know who your professors will be and be familiar with what they're writing, since they might reject you on the basis that your work doesn't fit what they feel they can coach, but are they looking for me to have picked the school because of the faculty?
I wrote one SOP as a sample and handed it out to some of my professors. One mentioned two things 1) That the reasons I gave for wanting to attend that program and graduate school in general are vague, and 2) I don't mention specific professors I'd want to work with. She mentioned this as someone with a PhD in literature, and said that she believes at MFA programs, mentioning specific faculty that you want to oversee your work and such isn't as important because it's more of a workshop environment (especially in high res programs). However, this is just the direction she's coming from.
Now, at some of the schools I'm applying to, I've been attracted to them because of the faculty, and some I'm attracted to other criteria, such as visiting writers, classes offered, the department's philosophy, or any combination of criteria. I'm excited about all of the programs for different reasons. I plan to revise my SOP to include more specific reasons for wanting to attend an MFA program, because I know that I can, but I wanted to run the question to the board: for MFA programs in writing, is faculty as important? I know that for PhD programs it's very, very important, and I know that MFA programs want you to at least know who your professors will be and be familiar with what they're writing, since they might reject you on the basis that your work doesn't fit what they feel they can coach, but are they looking for me to have picked the school because of the faculty?